What Girls Like
by Dangerpronek
Summary: Young troublesome Fred Jones is making a mess out of himself and is disappointing more than just his parents. What happens when he finds something a little bit better than trouble and needs advice from his parents? Read and Review! T to be safe. :)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Hello friends! I've missed writing more often but just so ya know I'm in the process of writing a new story and I think it will appeal to all Scooby fans because it got the whole gang and is packed with adventure, drama and it wouldn't be a dangerpronek story with out a little romance in between! Also I'm willing to do a word challenge with anyone right now so please message me if you're interested! They're loads of fun ^_^

Onto this little story ^_^

**What Girls Like**

The bright red vintage corded phone rang alarmingly throughout the Jones house. The petite, shoulder length blond quickly made her way to answer it.

"Hello Jones residents" she answered, catching her breath from the jog through the house.

"Yes, hi. Is Judy or Brad Jones there?" The all too familiar voice asked the young woman.

"This is she. Is something wrong?" Judy asked placing the phone closer to her lips that matched the color of the phone to a T.

"Unfortunately it's nothing good. It's about your son" the voice began. Judy shook her head in discouragement.

"What'd he do this time Principle Walsh?"

"We caught him stabbing freshly sharpened pencils into his classmates back then he was caught escaping the school. Climbing over the gate no doubt." The principle explained.

"Oh I'm so sorry. Is he alright?" She asked, that being her main concern.

"I'm afraid not Mrs. Jones. He fell of the 8 foot gate and took a tumble for the worst. The nurse sent him to the ER where he's been put a cast on. We tried calling but-"

"I was out in town. Is he back?" The worried mother asked trying her hardest to remain calm.

"Just a broken leg. He won't be happy to hear he can't participate in any sports this year. And if he keeps acting up I fear we'll have no other choice than to expel him"

" I'll make it known to him Principle Walsh. I'll be there as soon as possible. I'm sorry again for all the trouble he's caused." She said sadly hanging up the phone.

"Fred, your mother's here." the principle announced to him. The unhappy young boy glared at the woman. He disliked being tattled on, especially when it came to the teachers and principle calling his parents. He knew for a fact he was in deep trouble once that call was made.

The young blond picked up his crutches and began to hop out of the room and into the hall where his mother stood.

"Freddy boy what is going through your mind when you do these things?" Judy questioned her son after helping him into the car.

Fred looked out the window, crossing his arms.

"Fredrick Herman Jones" his mother said louder in her firm and serious voice.

"I was just having fun.." The ten year old explained to his mom.

"Almost getting killed and stabbing other kids with pencils it not just about having fun, Fredrick" she corrected looking at him through the rear view mirror as she drove. "I'm just so disappointed in you Freddy." She sighed.

Fred listened to his mothers words, deep inside he felt terribly sorry for the mess he'd caused for her but at the same time he felt angry at her, he knew well enough what was coming next.

"What will your father think of this Freddy?" Judy questioned. "He won't be pleased to know you've gone and gotten into trouble again. This is the sixteenth time this school year. "

He didn't say another word until his father arrived home from work that night. Fred had been sent to his room, something he absolutely dreaded. Nothing to do but read books and his most favorite and exciting mystery stories had been read too many times over the past few weeks with punishments in his room. He'd much rather be outside exploring the world over his backyard fence. Which also led him to get into more trouble.

A knock on his wooden bedroom door caused a knot to form in his stomach and his heart to pound. He knew exactly who it was.

"Come in" he mumbled in an unhappy tone.

"Fred" the voice of his father said. Closing the door behind him.

He looked up to his red head dad whose face showed exhaustion that even Fred could see.

"Hi dad" he greeted, hoping to see a smile show on his face.

"Fredrick Jones when are you going to learn?" Brad asked, no trace of a smile to be found. "I see so much potential in you, son"

Fred glanced down at his broken leg that was wrapped in a cast. He couldn't look into his dad's eyes. He didn't understand why he just knew he couldn't.

"You do all these wrong things and hurt people. You've caused your own mother to cry, Fred. She's worried about you. As am I." He said firmly. "You should be ashamed of your behavior. You could be such good young man" bothered by his son's ignorance he slid onto Fred's bed, gently lifting his son's face to look into his eyes.

"Fred you've got to stop this madness. It's not going to put you in a good place. You are worth so much more than you give yourself credit for"

Fred still refused to speak to his dad. He heard every word he spoke to him but it just couldn't sink in. He just didn't make any sense to him.

"We'll talk more later. For now your mother wants to go visit the new neighbors down the street so clean yourself up. " Brad said leaving his son's room.

Fred dreadfully put a clean shirt on and managed to get a pair of denim shorts on.

"Mom..." Fred groaned as she brushed his lush tangled blond hair.

"Shh. You're fine Freddy. I want you to look presentable to the new neighbors." Judy said, placing the brush on her wooden makeup table.

"Ready dear?" Brad asked, grabbing the house keys on his work desk.

"Yes, I just need to grab the cake and cookies I made for them"

"There's no cookies here Juds" Brad said.

"Fredrick..." She said to the limping boy who tried sneaking away.

"Shame on you son. That's stealing!" Brad said, beginning to loss his patience with him.

"Never mind the cookies, a cake will do." Judy said cutting in between the two and opening the front door.

Walking down the street Fred's parents gave him endless lectures and lessons on how to act with the neighbors.

Brad rang the door bell and instantly the door opened with a tall bleach blond man greeting them.

"Hello there, I'm Barty Blake" he introduced himself.

"Hi! I'm Brad Jones and this is my wife Judy and our son Fredrick." He said.

"Nice to meet you! What brings you to our home?" Barty friendly asked.

"We brought you a welcome gift." Judy answered with a bright smile. "We live next door, just a few houses down the street."

"Charming! Come, meet my wife Nan and our 5 daughters, Daisy, Dawn, Delilah, Debbie and our youngest Daphne." Barty introduced.

"Girls say hello" Nan Blake mother of the five said.

"Hello" the eldest four girls chimed.

"Daphne Ann Blake, tell them hello." Nan demanded sweetly of her youngest. The small eight year old girl blushed.

"Hi" she said shyly quickly getting out of the spot light and blending in with the red head sisters.

"They're adorable." Judy commented looking at the youngest particularly.

"Thank you Judy. It's wonderful meeting you."

"Same to you. What a lovely house you have" Judy said admiring the long elegant stair way.

"Thank you. It's so kind of you to come visit. Come, let's go sit in the visiting room." Nan said. "Your son can play with Daphne. She's always looking for new friends."

"Yes, I'll be right there." Judy said before squatting down to her son's height.

"Mom I don't want to hang out with her" he whined.

"Why not Freddy? She looks like such a sweet young girl"

"Because...she's a..girl" he said in shock that his mom didn't understand.

"Yes she is a girl. A nice little girl who needs a friend in this town. Promise me you'll behave yourself. No hurting anyone or anything" Judy lectured. Fred glanced over his mothers shoulders and saw the girl innocently reading a book.

"Fine. I promise." He said, not looking forward to the torture he was going to be put through.

Judy smiled and gave him a simple kiss on his forehead. Leaving the rest up to him.

"Hey" Fred said roughly, like any young boy would. The curly haired red head girl looked up with her violet eyes sparkling.

"Hi" she said softly, feeling a little afraid of the boy that felt much bigger than she was.

"Whatcha wanna do?" He asked. Daphne hesitated before saying her suggestion.

"We could go outside" she said catching his attention. Though she was so young she knew boys like him would probably rather be outside. She dreaded this playtime almost as much as Fred did. Boys were rude, gross and mean in Daphne's eyes. No little boy ever treated her kindly.

**TBC**

**This was going to be a oneshot but I think it's going to be better as a little story! Tell me what you think please :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"How'd you do that?" The petite little red head questioned, looking directly at the cast wrapped around his leg.

Fred cut his eyes, it's not that he cared that she asked, it's that he was beginning to feel ashamed of himself and dreaded every bit of the feeling. "I..I..none of your business nosy." He huffed at her. Daphne's little innocent face shown a frowned. She quickly backed off of him. "Sorry.." Daphne mumbled, unhappy with the older child's reaction to her. Feeling that terrible feeling of guilt washing over himself he quickly threw a rude response to her apology to hide his feelings. "You should be" he hissed.

Daphne's frown turned into anger. He was getting on her nerves.

"You could be nicer.." She said.

"You could be more quiet than you are." Fred added.

"You can't fool me!" Little Daphne Blake shouted. "You're not so big bad and tough, you're just afraid." Fred was in shock, how could the little girl next door know him so well? It's like she could see right through his acts. "You're a liar!" He shouted. Unsure of what to do next he slung his crutch in the air knocking her in the head. She fell backwards to the ground. He expected her to be in tears, but in disbelief he watched her eyes slowly close shut.

"Daphne?" His voice croaked. Suddenly his heart began to race. It beat so hard he thought it would burst out if his chest at any moment. "Daphne wake up! I didn't mean to.." Before he could finish his eyes grew wide, from her head red blood began to poor out. "Oh no.." He whispered to himself.

"Daphne!" A voice screamed from behind him. Fred knew his life was over. It was the girls father, a name of which he couldn't remember.

"Fred! What happened here?" His mother asked rushing to the Blakes daughter's side. Removing her scarf to apply pressure to the open cut. Frantic Nan got on her knees crying over her young daughter.

"Is she dead?" Nan cried. Fred slowly took a few steps back from the scene, hoping to get away.

"No she's unconscious." Judy stated. "Brad! Call an ambulance! Hurry!" She said firmly, remaining calm for the sake of the poor parents of the little girl. Following his wife's directions, the ambulance arrived minutes later.

"I'm so so sorry Nan and Barty.." Judy apologized. Nan just shook her head.

"Just please, keep your wild child away from our daughters!" Barty commanded before getting into the ambulance with his young daughter.

Brad pulled his tearful wife into his arms. "What are we going to do with him, Brad?" She cried. Brad kissed her forehead. "I-I don't know Judy." He sighed deeply. Fred watched his parents grieve together from the side walk. Knowing he'd done something he'd be punished severely for.

The walk home was silent. But once in the doors of the Jones house the silence was quickly broken.

"Fredrick Herman Jones" Brad started. Fred's heart once again was pounding. But his mind stuck on the girl. The one he'd put into an ambulance. Still he tried to pay attention to his fathers words, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do. "What the heck were you think son? What did you do to her?"

"I hit her with my crutch..." Fred admitted.

"Why would you do such a thing? Especially to a girl! I've taught you how you should treat girls, Fred. And you disobeyed me. She's in the hospital now! Because if you!" His father raised his voice, anger boiled inside of him.

"I don't know why I did it dad. I just did!" Fred mumbled.

"She was so kind to you. She's new here and just needed a friend. Her first impression of people here was you! Can you imagine how scared she must be?" His mother cried.

"Fredrick, no sports, no sleepovers, no games, no anything until you learn to behave yourself. You'll stay by your parents side. Like a baby." Brad decided.

"And you'll be taking Daphne an apology letter. With a present you'll purchase or make yourself." Judy said.

Fred nodded his head. He has no intention on knocking the clumsy redhead over, so why should he have to apologize? It didn't matter now. There was no way his parents were letting him off the hook here. He hadn't seen his parents this upset in a long time.

"Freddy..." His mother sniffled, kneeling to his height. Young Fredrick had no issue looking into his mother's eyes which had tears streaming down her worn face. But he kept his focus on his twiddling thumbs. "What makes you this way? You are loved by so many, but you have no respect for anyone. If..if you keep this up your father and I will have decided to send you to a boarding school" she sobbed, resting her head on the sofa where he sat. Fred's face was blank. He looked at his mother then up to his father. Brad's arms were crossed, his face showed a certain sadness and exhaustion. For a brief moment Fred felt sorry for the trouble he'd caused. But the feeling couldn't run over his mischief doings. He could never admit he was wrong.

"Boarding school?" Fred croaked. His father nodded.

"It's the only way son.." Brad said. Fred leaped off the sofa, grabbing his crutches and quickly limped away.

Boarding school? It just wasn't possible..

**TBC**

**A/N: Thanks for reading, I can't wait to publish the next chapter! **


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ah! It was so fabulous to hear from some of you. You're pretty awesome and you encourage me. :) I have a feeling you'll enjoy this chapter more than the last. At least I like this one a lot. :D

Anywho onto the story

**Chapter 3**

The next day the small family of three day at the kitchen table. Brad cut in to the steaming pancake after Judy poured the syrup over it gently.

"Fred, we're going to the hospital today" she said softly, sitting in the seat beside of him. Fred sat directly in between his parents. "Why?" Fred asked in a tone that didn't please his parents at all. "Because, I called Daphne's parents, they told me that it would be okay to stop by. I told them that there was something you needed to tell them."

"Why'd you lie to them?" Fred mumbled.

"It's no lie Fredrick! When are you going to fess up to the truth and admit you're wrong?" Brad barked at his young rebellious son.

"I did nothing wrong! She's a girl! In my way, and thanks to her I can't do anything! I never wanna see that awful, no good klutz again!" Fred shouted, pounding his little fists onto the table. His mother and father sat there in disbelief. Just when they thought he could get no worse, he always managed to find a way make more trouble than before.

"Fred! That's no way to act! I won't have it! You're going to go to that hospital everyday that little girl is in there. And everyday you'll bring her a gift and give her an apology! But you won't write that apology letter until you feel that you can do it without having such a bitter heart" Brad demanded of his son. Fred wasn't happy at all. He'd dug himself into a deeper ditch than it was before.

"Do you understand?" He asked, in his fury. Fred sighed.

"Yes sir." He replied. Scooting his chair out and excusing himself from the table.

Fred went upstairs and dressed himself in a casual outfit, then lifted up his pillow and found his allowance money he'd earned in the past. He stuffed the cash into the pockets of the jeans.

"Freddy, are you ready to leave?" Judy asked, peeping her head into his room.

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed. Judy cracked a small smile.

"Have you thought about what gift your going to get for Daphne?" Judy questioned, taking a seat on the edge of his bed, where he was sitting. "Nah, I haven't put any thought into it." He said. Judy rolled her eyes. She found the way he said it funny. Such a little boy.

"I tell you what, why don't we just bring her a pair of warm footy socks." His mother suggested. Fred's face was filled with confusion. "Why socks? That's a rotten present" Fred stated, looking up into her eyes. Judy tried to hold her laughter in, she didn't want to anger him, she treasured these simple moments of peace with her son.

"The hospital is cold, her feet are probably freezing. She'd appreciate that thoughtfulness. We'll look for a pretty pattern, that will make it more special." She said. Fred still didn't understand what she was saying, it didn't matter, he was just thankful the idea part was over and his mother had done most the work.

After stopping at a store well known to Judy and picking out a pair of socks for the Blake daughter, the family made their way to the hospital.

On the 10th floor of the hospital The two parents of Daphne stood in the hallway.

"Barty, Nan, our son has something he'd like to say to you." Brad greeted to the couple. "Go ahead Fred."

"Uh..I'm sorry..you know..a-about hurting your daughter." Fred apologized. It was the most miserable thing he'd done in a while.

"Thank you Fredrick." Barty managed to say, still not willing to accept an apology from any member of the Jones family.

"Do you mind if Fred goes in to see Daphne?" Judy requested. Nan and Barty exchanged looks.

"I suppose it would be alright" Barty said, his wife nodding in agreement.

"Thanks." Judy said, opening the door allowing Fred to enter the room.

Around the small corner, in a giant bed the petite frail redhead rested. Fred felt nervous. What would he say? How would she react to seeing him. Not realizing her reaction would be the least of his worries.

"She's not going to hear you" a voice from behind said. It was his father. "The doctor told her parents she's still unconscious. How do you feel about yourself now Fred?" Fred just stared at Daphne. She was attached to a feeding tube, stitches sealing the long cut and a wrap all round her head. An IV was cut into her wrist. His eyes were slowly but surely opening for the first time. A chill crept up his spine. This girl was innocent and he could see all the pain and trauma she would be enduring because of him.

"I..I..I don't know what to say, dad." He sighed. Brad patted his son on the back. "Tell her sorry and leave the package on her table. I'll be outside the room. He finished, walking away.

With minutes passing, Fred found himself losing time staring at the injured girl whom so innocently tried to be his friend.

He limped closer to edge of her bedside.

"Uh..,hi Daphne. I know you can't hear me, but..well I guess I just want to say..gosh-" the ten year old sighed, struggling to find the right words to explain himself. This was even tougher than he imagined it would be. "I didn't mean to hurt you!" He said, a lone tear escaping his eye. Fred never cried, not only him, but others found him the toughest ten year old they'd ever known. "I understand now that you were only trying to be my friend. Truth is..I need a friend. I don't have any. No one wants to be a screw up's friend, nobody. I'm always alone, I hurt people I shouldn't. I guess it's because.. No ones ever given me the fair chance. No one except you..." He said, keeping his calm. "Daphne I'll always understand why you wouldn't be my friend, but I might always have a regret about not being a friend to you from the beginning. I feel like we could be..really close friends..i don't know. I have trouble trusting. I don't tell people this..and the only reason I'm telling you is because you can't hear me. And maybe..maybe I wish that you could. I'm sorry Daphne, I just want a second chance at being your friend here." He sniffled.

Daphne remained still, her eyes still closed shut tightly. The sound of so many machines going off alarmed him. He backed away on crutches from her bed.

"I've gotta go now.. Bye Daphne Blake." He said. Wiping the tears away, acting as if it never happened.

Leaving the hospital he had no idea that soon he'd discover his secrets and cries and apologies were all heard...

**TBC **

**A/N: I'm excited for the next chapter..gonna be sweet! **


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